I had noticed that Owen and Eloise were missing from the party and so I left Leon, Dominic and Ric talking with some potential clients to look for them. I’d found them in the garden which was, by all accounts, a beautiful garden. Unfortunately what I saw there was far from beautiful.
I found Eloise and Owen quickly and as soon as my eyes landed on the scene I knew that shit had gone awry. Owen was on the ground, slowly getting up and Eloise was arguing with an alpha who was gripping her arm so hard that his knuckles were white.
I watched as Eloise lifted her foot and slammed it down on the alpha’s causing him to let her go with a roar. His hand began to lift as if he was going to hit her, but I beat him to it. His hand was easy to break, I’d felt his fingers snap inside of my clenched fist as I twisted his arm for good measure.
I wanted to break every bone in his damn body for daring to touch Eloise. But I could feel her presence at my back and she’d been through enough tonight. So I scooped her shaking body into my arms and left the gala from fucking hell, trusting that Leon would handle the situation. I was briefly aware of Owen and Ric following behind us as we passed by silent gala attendees. We made it out to the waiting limousine which Ric had apparently already called for and climbed inside.
Eloise had been silent ever since her protests when I’d picked her up. Her whole body shook like she was freezing and Ric slipped his jacket off and covered her with it.
“Thanks.” Her tiny little voice said from my lap, “I can sit in my own seat Gage. Thank you for getting me out of there.”
“No can do, love.” I responded and tightened my grip onto her and she gave a little sigh and gave up, snuggling deeper into my arms and inhaling my scent deeply. I wanted her to press her nose into my neck while she rode me into oblivion—but we had bigger fish to fry than my libido which had been in overdrive for the past week.
“Hey Eloise,” Ric reached out and brushed some of the hair which had fallen out of her updo out of her face. “I thought we agreed to shit-kick that alpha together for, you know, bonding purposes?”
Eloise gave a laugh that sounded a little wet as tears had begun to stream down her face as the shock from the last twenty minutes began to wear off.
“Sorry boss, you’ve gotta have better timing if you wanna bond over shit-kicking someone.” She said softly before looking over at Owen, “are you okay Owen? He threw you down pretty hard.”
“Nothing is bruised except my ego darlin’. It’s not a good look when your honor is defended by an omega.” Owen looked worse for wear than Eloise did, some of the gravel from the ground had scraped the side of his face leaving angry red scratches. I could tell that Owen was beating himself up on the inside for not being able to defend Eloise.
“I think an omega fighting for you is the best way to have your honor defended.” Eloise sniffed, sounding a bit offended.
I chuckled, “Couldn’t have said it better myself.”
I buried my nose in her hair and sucked in her chocolate scent and we stayed like that until the car door opened and Leon and Dominic stepped inside.
“Did you handle it?” Ric asked as he slid over to make room for them on the bench seat opposite of Owen, Eloise and I.
“Didn’t have to.” Dominic replied, his eyes on the omega who was now comfortably curled against my chest.
“Cecelia Worthington handled it and I was assured that Andrew Smythe and his pack would no longer be able to practice anywhere in a 500 mile radius. I don’t know how I didn’t see it before but that woman is terrifying.” Leon leaned back in his seat and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“I’m sorry for causing trouble.” Eloise’s voice was small as she looked at all of us.
Leon groaned and leaned forward, pulling Eloise’s hand into his and squeezing. “Never apologize for defending pack members or yourself. I can’t stand idiots who have a backwards mentality like that anyways and would have probably kicked his ass with or without you.”
Well color me and everyone else in the car surprised at Leon’s shift in attitude towards the omega. It wasn’t necessarily friendly but it was a damn leap from this morning.
“O, you alright?” Leon’s dark blue eyes moved from Eloise to our beta who was still sitting quietly and staring out the window.
“Yeah. Fine.” Owen definitely did not sound fine, but I decided to shelve that thought for now. We had too many eggs frying in the pan for me to deal with the beta’s hurt pride.
I carried Eloise from the car and upstairs into her bedroom and turned to go but I felt her fingers on the edge of my sleeve.
“Don’t leave please.” Her voice was tiny, “I don’t really want to be alone.”
“I won’t go anywhere.” I promised and watched as she grabbed pajamas from her drawers and went into the bathroom to change. I unbuttoned my dress shirt and took it off, glad I chose to wear a black t-shirt underneath tonight. There wasn’t much I could do about my slacks but at least this would be more comfortable.
Eloise stepped out a few moments later, her face washed and long brown hair hanging loosely around her shoulders. She was dressed in an oversized t-shirt and a pair of leggings and looked even more mouthwatering than she had when she was wearing her dress earlier.
“Thank you for staying.” She gave me a small smile and headed for the closet. “I want you to stay —just to sleep—but I’m a bit nervous. I’ve never invited someone into my nest before.”
Well shit. How was I supposed to respond to that? I was tickled pink by the idea that I’d be the first man to ever be in her nest and I immediately had to think of dying puppies so I didn’t pop an erection at the very thought of being in her nest surrounded by her scent.
“Do whatever makes you comfortable, Eloise.” Was the only thing I could think to say.
Eloise nibbled on her lower lip, deep in thought for a moment before she reached out and slid her hand into mine. “You always make me comfortable, Gage. You were the first one in this house to make me feel comfortable.”
